Trish Broersma - UK Tour

Whole Horse, Whole Human advancements in Equine Learning & Therapy with Trish Broersma in the UK

Trish Broersma is coming over to the UK from the USA to share her wisdom and experience working in whole horse, whole human advancements in equine learning and therapy. Three Devon based equine learning and therapy organisations have got together to host and run Trish's tour at the beginning of July. 
 

Trish Broersma is a long-time Certified Equine Specialist and Therapeutic Riding instructor with PATH Intl. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) and lead faculty for PATH Intl Certification in Equine Specialist seminars. She is author of Riding into Your Mythic Life: Transformational Adventures with the Horse and has been running innovative human development programmes in the states for over 30 years including working with at-risk teens, people in transition, and for the past six years, women recovering from the effects of breast cancer treatment.

  

 

Trish's tour starts with an evening lecture demonstration at Erme Valley Riding for the Disabled, near Ivybridge on 3rd July, open to anyone interested in learning more about equine assisted learning and therapy. 

This will then be followed by an intensive three day training for professionals already working in this emerging field, from 6th-8th July at Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship based at Hannahs at Seal Hayne, near Newton Abbot.  Sirona CEO and founder Dr Hannah Burgon said, “we are delighted to be hosting this course with Broersma at Sirona, and feel especially privileged as Trish is one of the first renowned US trainers to come and put on a training of this type in the UK”.

The third organisation involved is Adventures with Horses, run by Sue Blagburn who is organising and marketing the two events. Sue Blagburn said "I feel really excited to be working with Trish Broersma. Her approach integrates cutting edge human development work, current neuroscience research, chaos theory, quantum physics, and body based modalities, with a focus on new practices with horses as sentient beings.”

Trish said, “In recent years, my work has become increasingly focused on a radical, heartful partnership between horses and humans for the benefit of creating a viable future for our world. In these times of upheaval and change, horses are stepping into a new role in the community of mankind to assist us in this vital task. It is a mutual evolutionary journey.

“I deeply enjoy helping people discover how the mythic power of horses can lead them into their own uncharted mythic life, launching them with refreshed vigor, new sources of energy, and creativity for the life they have always yearned for. With rich and respectful horse/human relationships we can wisely restructure our lives to be more fully available to restructure our world in more just, verdant and peaceful directions.”

In 2013, she established Riding Beyond for women recovering from the effects of breast cancer treatment. This is a free opportunity for women who have experienced the rigors of breast cancer treatment to revitalize their whole person emotionally, physically, and spiritually, through carefully designed, guided interactions with horses. Exercises  (mounted and unmounted) in four sessions improve blood circulation and oxygenation, respiration and blood pressure, as well as balance, strength, and endurance. 

The lecture and demonstration at Erme Valley Riding for the Disabled is from 6pm to 9pm on Tuesday 3rd July, tickets are £25 in advance or £30 on the door, only 40 tickets are available. You can order your tickets here http://www.adventureswithhorses.co.uk/trish-broersma-uk-tour/trish-broersma-lecture-demo/

The three day experiential intensive training is for equine professionals, counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches and other wellness professionals already working or wanting to work in collaboration with horses and to kickstart their own programmes, is on 6th, 7th, 8th July at Sirona Therapeutic Horsemanship. The cost is £690 for all 3 days including lunch, all materials and a how-to manual. Only 10 places available.  There is an early bird saving on the above price if you book by Monday 21st May, you can find out more infomation and book here http://www.adventureswithhorses.co.uk/trish-broersma-uk-tour/trish-broersma-workshop/

For further details contact Sue Blagburn
Phone 07831 865259 or 01364 631444, Email: info@adventureswithhorses.co.uk
You can book on line here: http://www.adventureswithhorses.co.uk/

Becoming a Student of Horses

Written by Beth Thomas

The way we work with horses is to develop connection and relationship, which requires self mastery rather than mastery of the horse. Developing relationship requires us to listen to the horse as much as we speak, thus building a pathway of reciprocal communication. To make the horse do something through domination relies on fear, whereas to ask the horse to do something through connection requires a process of self-enquiry in relation to the horse. In this way we are working with horses rather than horses working for us. They are not our servants and neither are they our tools. They are horse beings equal to human beings, and it is through respectful and reciprocal relationship that learning is possible. 

Working with horses in this way has the potential to teach us empathic leadership; a way of leading grounded in humility and service. They help us to find a middle path between unassertive, timid leadership and overly dominant, demanding leadership; thus helping us to step into our power as authentic, sensitive and strong leaders.

The reason horses as so powerful to work with is because they are highly sensitive to body language and respond with incredible accuracy to how we really are, beyond pretence or mask. In this way, they can become an enlightening (and sometimes painful) mirror onto our humanness, and particularly the congruence of our intentions. To be a strong leader, the clarity of intention needs to be held at the core of one's being for it to be expressed in the subtleties of body language. The horse will pick up on falsity.

Sue writes:
“The horse listens not to the participant’s agenda, status, or outer persona, but to their inner story, body language and commitment to what they really care about.”

Horses can help to deepen our commitment to the world by highlighting incongruence between our values and our being; demanding us to bring conceptual commitment into embodied living. Horses can shine a light upon unhelpful narratives that keep us blocked, and through reflection and fresh eyes we can form new narratives that serve our ability to offer ourselves more boldly to the world. They are also natural teachers of mindfulness without knowing it (or perhaps they do know it, who can say!). Working with the horses helps us to be more fully in the present moment, paying attention to what is - both internally and externally, and noticing how the two worlds relate. Being with horses has the potential to bring us into deep states of peace and inner stillness. 

Horses are our teachers in this work. They are not like the teachers we are used to in a traditional classroom; rather they are like very good spiritual teachers. Like a good spiritual teacher, horses draw out the wisdom and resources that already dwell within. In this classroom there are no rights or wrongs, only levels of engagement. How much you choose to engage yourself or even challenge yourself is  your choice; sometimes it can be a scary or painful process to meet yourself in such an honest light. However, the light shone is a gentle one since it is a non-judgemental and uncritical honesty that the horses offer.

The space held by the facilitators is also very important in the process. Facilitators create an environment of safety, trust, confidentiality and openness, and like the horses offer a non-judgemental space in which to explore and play.